


Halloween Debut

by ChildOfSolace



Series: Monster lovers [2]
Category: The Little Vampire (2017)
Genre: Crushes, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-04 19:36:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17904278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChildOfSolace/pseuds/ChildOfSolace
Summary: Tony visits the Sackville-Bagg family for Halloween





	1. Back for the Holidays

"Hey Tony! Welcome ba—woah!"

Rudolph trails off on the account that Tony has dumped his person on the vampire.

"Ugh... Finally. I could not have gotten here fast enough."

Rudolph laughs, "What, did you miss me that much, mortal?"

"No, no, not that." Tony waves his hand dismissively, to which Rudolph huffs indignantly. "Er, I mean, not only that." The vampire hums in approval then. "It's just... you're so lucky you don't have to go to school anymore."

Rudolph laughs. He may have forgotten about his mostly short human life, but he understand the concept of education well enough. "Father enforces studies time to time, I know the feeling."

"Although, it's not as though you take the sessions seriously." Frederick pointed out, irksome.

The blond chuckled. "—and that you don't have to study _that_ hard just to come see me." Tony adds.

"I didn't realize you wanted to come see me again that much," Rudolph smirked, poking the blond's nose. "you needy little mortal."

Tony snorts, smirking. "Look who's talking, who ended up calling my Skype, even after I went offline to start studying for tests only _ten minutes_ from dropping the chat?"

"I thought something went wrong," Rudolph frowned, crossing his arms. "you usually say bye first before signing off."

"Still, twenty calls in ten minutes? I'm surprise you didn't just fly all the way over." Tony laughs at the ridiculousness of it all.

Freda chuckles, "He came close to doing that," she says, "we were about to let him till you finally called to say that you were fine."

"Yeah, well, my Gmail kept buzzing with Skype notifications, so..." Tony shrugs.

Freda continues, "Since you miss each other that much, and that you're only here until the end of the week, why don't you two go along and get to those activities Rudolph prepared?" she suggests. "We'll take care of your things. You'll be sharing a room with Ruddy, right?"

"Thanks Mrs. Sackville-Bagg," Tony beams, "You're right. Rudy and I got some catching up to do."

Frederick cocks his head to the side, "' _Catching Up_ '?" he repeats, "what ever do you mean? Are you going on a race? My son is far too fast, considering that you can't fly."

"Er, no. It's an expression," Tony explains, "Like... We haven't seen each other for a while, so now, we have to hang out."

Freda frowns next, "So you can't fly, but you can hang on walls like us?"

"Er... I mean... we're gonna spend time together now."

Frederick and Freda hums in understanding, "Oh, you should've said so in the first place." The blond can't help but smack his forehead, Rudolph just laughs.

"Come on, Bessie and I found something a while back that you may find ' _cool_ '."

Tony gaped, "You seriously named your cow _Bessie_?"

" _You_ named her, not me."

"Yeah, but that was just a joke."

"Why should that be a joke?"

"It's..." Tony starts to explain before sighing, "Oh never mind. Let's go."

Rudolph grins, taking Tony's hand before flying out the door. Frederick and Freda hovers off the floor, heading towards the staircase as Anna and Gregory flew back in through the second floor window.

"Mother, father," They greeted.

Freda smiles at her children, "Welcome back you two, how are the cows?"

"They're fine, mother." Anna says, "Any word on Tony? Has his plane landed yet?"

"He just arrived here, actually." Frederick tells her. "You just missed him. Rudolph took him... well, somewhere. Something about a place he found with that bitten cow of his."

Anna gapes before looking annoyed, Gregory catches her expression and looks—as Tony may put it—' _so done_ ' with everything.

"Seriously?"

Anna huffed, annoyed that her brother was always getting ahead of her in these things. Much as she'd like to track them down, she already promised mother she'd help her with dinner. They discovered that they could, in fact, prepare blood, cooking it the way humans would, and it actually tastes all the more better that way. They were having blood sausage and stew for Tony's first night back. But Freda has yet to get the hang of it while Anna, being human before, had the instincts to prepare it and was a fast learner when the old lady taught it to them.

"Never you mind, girl." Gregory says, putting his hands on her shoulders, "we have things to prepare. Let Rudolph alone with his mortal friend."

Anna rolls her eyes, "Fine. But I get to sit next to him during dinner."


	2. Wishing well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A sort of orientation to wishing wells

"Now that father is more or less approving of outdoor excursions, Bessie and I went exploring and stumbled upon a wishing well."

Tony blinked as they started their descent, "Wishing... wait, what? Are you serious?"

"Yeah, one of those wishing wells showed in that _movie_ of yours." Rudolph said, settling them down near the said structure. "Oddly enough, however, it doesn't seem to work. I wished for Halloween to come a lot sooner, but I kept waking up to the following day, as usual."

Two things that came into Tony's mind. First, why there was a well at all in a place like this, and second, that he shouldn't have started introducing Rudolph to the wonderful world of Disney by starting with its first colored animation movie. At least, without the orientation of fiction first.

"Well, where is Bessie then?" Tony asked, "she wasn't exactly the stead Anna keep saying she was, but it's fun pretending she was while riding her."

Rudolph waved his hand dismissively, "Oh, she died a few weeks ago."

"Wait, what! She _died_!?" Tony's mouth pops open. "and you don't care?"

Rudolph shrugged, "Well, it's been expected. I did bite her," he says, "so she has vampire venom inside of her instead of blood. Venom, as in, poison?"

"Yeah, but I thought she was vampire. Uh, a vamp-cow?" Tony frowned, "so that makes her immortal, right?"

Rudolph shook his head, "Poison is poison. To make a full vampire transformation, the person needs to be bitten four times, once per month from when the first bite was given to... You could say, develop an immunity of sorts to it." he explains, "Father didn't think it was necessary to transform her completely, however, because it would be a hassle to take care of her. Plus, Bessie would just be a bother to the normal cows grazing here and we need those to keep our strength up."

"I see." Tony hummed, still a bit sad. He understood the logic, it was reasonable. Still, he was going to miss her. "So, is it the same with turning people into vampires?"

Rudolph nodded, "Gregory said he was on his way to take us back from the orphanage when he encountered an accident." he says, "Mother begged father to turn him when they chanced upon him. He only remembered us after his full transformation, and his important human memories restored to him."

"Only important ones, huh?" Tony hums, "Like?"

Rudolph thought about it, and his own memories that he retained. "It's those things you may think of before dying. Your name, family that really matters to you, maybe even a pet. What you were passionate about..." he explained. "According to Gregory, at the time, the only thing that mattered to him was me and Anna. He didn't have big ambitions or anything, but he was always willing to take risks for our sake's. But he had to be completely transformed to remember any of that, so he came back for us by that time." He said, before shaking his head. "Anyway, enough of this dreary prattle. Shall we?"

"Uh, shall we... what?"

Rudolph shrugged. "Make a wish. Maybe you can show me what I did wrong, and why it won't grant my wishes." He said.

"Uh, about that Rud, _wishing wells_ don't really work—" The blond trailed off at the hopeful expression on his face. "—er, you know, unless it involves... uh, a penny. Yeah."

Rudolph raised a brow, "A girl... named Penny?"

"Uh, no. Like, you know, um...." Tony said, putting his hands in his pockets. "Er.. Ah, like this. It's like... money?" he held out the coin.

Rudolph hummed, taking the coin. "Hmm, haven't used money since... Well, not even back when I was human." He shrugged. "But that maiden in the movie, she just sang to this thing. Ugh, do I have to sing?"

"No, not exactly." Tony snorted, and as much as the thought of Rudolph attempting to sing sounded so pure and amusing in its own right, he didn't want him to sing expecting that his well would grant his wish. "That was then, anyway. Nowadays, the thinking is that you gotta throw a coin into the well for a wish." He said, before realizing what he said. He intended to make up an excuse why wishes don't work on wells anymore but still leave the impression that it still works. He wasn't supposed to give him another idea to try it again. "Er, that is... I mean, that's what I heard, anyway. Haven't tried it yet, and sometimes people make something up. To, uh, keep the secret of the wishing well, um, a secret."

Rudolph crossed his arms, one hand to his chin as he hums in thought. "Well, then, might as well try it then." he snatched the coin from Tony and walked over to the well. The blond gaped, but before he could say thing, like suggest the vampire to wish for a simple, more low key wish than controlling time, Rudolph spoke his wish. "I wish for Tony to live a long life, about a hundred years or so would be nice." He said and flipped the coin.

It shimmered in the moon light before sinking down, deep into the deep and almost bottomless well.

"You..." Tony blinked, honestly taken by surprise by the vampire's wish. "You made a wish for my sake?"

Rudolph smiled, turning back to his friend and away from the well. "No, for me, silly." he said. "you're the most entertaining thing I've encountered in years. And I am not returning to those days of boredom if I can help it."

"Oh, so that's it," Tony rolled his eyes, and smirked. "So I'm just your court Jester. Well, jeez, nice to know what you think of me." He snarks.

But if he was being honest, he was touched that the vampire liked him enough to desire his company. Even if their meeting was intense and led to a lot of dangerous situations, the blond would do it all over again for the chance of the friendship he had now with the vampire. Tony liked Rudolph a lot, too. So even if it meant having to eat vegetables a lot to keep healthy and live long, Tony would suck it up.

For Rudolph.

As for the vampire, he wasn't going to admit that he had every intention of turning the blond into a vampire someday. Rudolph didn't just want hundreds of years with Tony, he wanted centuries with the blond, possibly even a forever. He understood, though. That Tony still had human concerns, like his parents. But Rudolph was used to waiting, so he would wait for that time Tony would consider and welcome the idea of becoming a vampire.

Rudolph can wait now that he had the well helping him with his wish.


	3. Important friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I tried finding what was Tony's canon birthday, if ever it was referenced anywhere (TV or Book series) But couldn't find it any where. So I decided to just make it somewhere at October, before Halloween.

A bit later, after some flying, it took Anna having to find them to return for dinner. A short argument occurred when the two younger members of the Sackville-Bagg family fought over who would get to sit beside Tony. Gregory settled the matter by having the human settled between his younger siblings. Gregory sat on the other side of Rudolph, and Freda on Anna's, to put a stop on other quarrels resulted from the two fighting for the blond's attention during dinner.

Gregory found the whole thing ridiculous, to be honest. In spite of this, he was still grateful for the human since he did save his brother, not to mention entire clan. Frederick even admitted that if it wasn't for Tony, they would've been fried by more of Rookery's beam lights. Still, he didn't see why his brother liked him so much. He understood Anna, to an extent. When he was human, he recalled how young ladies' minds were filled with romantic fantasies at their time. Plus, having Tony around was a good practice for her spell. As for Rudolph, while he was his first human friend, it wasn't as if his younger brother was deprived from good companionship. When they weren't at odds with each other, Anna and Rudolph had their appreciative moments too.

That's when he saw it.

The way Rudolph looked at Tony when he was explaining to him another human thing, or when he laughed at something anyone on the table would say, or when he dug into his meal so fast he choked... Basically, when Tony did anything, Rudolph would just stare at him as if it's the most interesting thing he ever saw.

Gregory was like that once, when he was at the workhouse. He and this guy usually had the same shifts and would make the work load much bearable with each other's company. It was one of his vague human memories, a part from his family history. He doesn't remember his name, only that he was particularly hairier than normal. All the same, that was the last time he remembered being in love. The guy promised to cover for him while Gregory went back for Anna and Rudolph. If there was one regret he had before almost dying and being turned into a vampire, it was never getting to say good bye to him.

Right now, Gregory was almost certain Rudolph was developing feelings for Tony, possibly something close to that magical connection Frederick and Freda once talked to him about. He wondered if he should tell Anna about it for her to back off, but thought better of it. It seemed such a hassle to bother. Anna was just alluring Tony for the sake of refining her spell, most possibly. If she wasn't actually into Tony, she'd get over it eventually and figure it out herself.

Later on, Tony, the castle owners, and the vampires had a meeting about what they would be doing for their vampire attraction for the town's Halloween festival coming up soon. In early Skype video chats, Tony suggested some urban legend icons like the Loch Ness monster and Bigfoot to decorate the area, make the place out to be some monster museum of sorts. They showed Tony how they were doing with those and they worked on the slight alterations, like adding paint and stuff. When all that's left was painting the back drops, planning to finish it tomorrow where the sun can dry it in time for Halloween that coming Friday. When that was arranged, and after allowing—albeit reluctantly—Anna to have her own dose of Tony attention, which may or may not involve her spell again, Tony and Rudolph went to their shared room. For his stay, Tony adjusted his sleep schedule, meaning he would be sleeping when Rudolph slept, and awake when he was; to make most of their time. So he slept the entire plane and truck ride on the way here to prepare for the night.

 

"What's that Tony?"

The blond looked back, seeing the vampire hovering beside him. He held up his _Samsung_ tablet. "Oh, it's called a _Tablet._ And no, not a block of stone or anything." He said, expecting his vampire to question the term, as per usual. "Mom and dad got it for my birthday at the start of the month."

"Oh, your birthday had passed already." Rudolph blinked, and considering that Tony was a year older unsettled him for some inexplicable reasons. He almost wanted to age up himself, but his parents warned him not to take form changing lightly. "That makes you fourteen already, right?"

Tony grinned, "A number higher than thirteen, yeah." he quipped. "But honestly, it doesn't really feel like much. When I reach eighteen or twenty then I'll start counting."

"Why those age?"

"Oh, it's like... the times most parents would be expecting their kids to be all mature, grown-up..." Tony said dismissively, "You know, coming of age boring stuff."

Rudolph sighed, hovering back from the blond. "Actually, I don't know." he admitted. "When brother transformed us, I kept aging until I fully adjusted to being a vampire; thirteen years old. Since then, birthdays and ages stopped meaning anything to me. It was okay the first few times, but when you return to a tedious pattern of sameness afterwards anyway, there's hardly a point. You can see why I don't really seem fond of celebrating it."

"Oh," Tony hummed, unsure what to say about that. "Well, has your family ever thought of finding ways to turn human? I mean, we live short lives but you could say spicing up routines isn't as uncommon."

Rudolph groaned, shaking his head. "Yes, and that memory is filled with regrets." he said. "After the first century of being a family with father and mother, Gregory was fed up with hiding in the shadows and feeding on humans; felt bad since they were our kind before too. Anna felt the same, which was why she only drank milk from cows after she grew into being a vampire."

"But... didn't you tell me before that Rookery found out where your vault was because Gregory wanted to go out and feed on humans again?"

Rudolph narrowed his eyes, "Yeah, brother gets fed up a lot." he shook his head. "Anyway, father wasn't fond of feeding on cows and animals at the time either. We found out there was this one way: by using the amulet of lost souls." he continued to explain, "A magical stone with one of its properties is that of turning monsters into humans, among other things. It took us another century and a half to track it down. But while the number of vampire and monsters hunters dropped over time, there were still a few that are now aided with modern technology."

"Rookery, you mean?" Tony frowned.

Rudolph nodded, shoulders slumping. "Yes. We finally found the amulet, near where my uncle Von and aunt Elizabeth lived. We were in the middle of the ritual to turn human when he found us. My dear uncle and aunt perished when we were escaping from him. Aunt Elizabeth died with a stake to the heart, and uncle was burst into flames; sent to the underworld when Rookery used his stone fragment on him. Its stone is similar to that of the amulet." he sighed. "Thankfully, during the struggle and flight to escape, Rookery lost that stone. But we lost the amulet as well when a comet passed by at the time. Because of the loss, we never tried searching for ways to turn human again; hostility towards mortals worsened as well, until we met you, that is."

"I'm sorry that happened to your family," Tony said, fidgeting a bit. "But... I'm still sort of glad, though. That you're a vampire, because we got to meet. To be honest, you're my first, real friend, Rudolph."

The vampire blinked, honestly surprised. "Really?" he asked. "Do you not have any mortal friends where you come from?"

"I used to," Tony sighed, "But these foreign exchange students came, the McAshtons, and they started bullying me ever since just because I liked vampires. Because of that, any one that came close to me would be bullied too."

Rudolph grumbled. He was familiar with the term _bullying._ Although the term changed and developed since his time, the concept still existed today which it really shouldn't have. "Perhaps I should visit you in America at one point as well," he suggested. "teach those two a lesson about wronging you."

"I'd appreciate that buddy, but no thanks." Tony managed a smile, "It's nothing I can't handle; Mom and dad talked to the school about it so they've left me alone to an extent; as long as I avoid being left alone anywhere near them, I'll be fine."

Rudolph disagreed, however. "But it's not fine," he said. "you, too, are an important friend to me. Apart from my family, you're the only other person I care about. It never occurred to me till you mentioned it that I haven't helped you with your human concerns as you have my vampire ones."

"Are you kidding?" Tony snorted, smirking. "You've done enough. Kids in my school, even my own parents, kept saying I was crazy, even childish, for believing in vampires so much. You just being you, proving it to even just myself that I'm not crazy or silly for believing and letting me be useful to helping your kind not in a simple ' _means of food_ ' kind of way was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Rudolph raised a brow, "Even considering Rookery and the number of times you almost died?"

"Yeah, well, that wasn't fun." Tony conceded, "But small price to pay; nothing lost, nothing gain and all that."

Rudolph frowned, crossing his arms. "Price to pay... But you didn't pay for anything."

"No, it just means that there can't be good without the bad, you know." Tony shrugged, "You just said you were fed up with the same old routine. Sure, it meant your clan being put to danger and having to deal with that jerk hunter. But at least now you live in a castle, and don't have to struggle much to feed on cows."

Rudolph slowly understood what Tony was saying and smiled, "And I got to meet you."

"See? Win-Win." Tony grinned, raising his hand. "Up high."

Rudolph blinked before chuckling, raising his hand in similar fashion before Tony claps it in a seemingly friendly gesture.

"Now come on, you have to try out this game I just downloaded a week ago." Tony held out the device, "It's called ' _Mobile Legends_ '. You'll love it; there's some vampire-like features and everything."

Rudolph shrugged, hovering closer to watch as Tony showed him how to play. The blond went through a couple of matches before the vampire had his turn until it was near dawn and they both decided it was time for bed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Divergence to canon:  
> -The history with Rudolph's aunt and uncle. But references to how they died are close to canon.  
> -Elizabeth was part of the McAshton family, but she isn't linked to them at all here.  
> -The Thompsons still live in America. In the 2000 movie, I know they moved from California to Scotland.


	4. Halloween Festival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Bed and Breakfast receives some undesirable guests

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really watch the 2000 movie, so I don't have a clear picture of the bullies from that movie, just used their names.

Once the sun started to set, the vampires went through the final preparations for the attraction display later at the night. Some of the festival stalls and game booths were being set up as well. The old couple were taking care of last minute ticket sales.

"So, Anna, what are you doing?"

Anna smiled sweetly at Tony, but for once, didn't try using her spell as they were busy with the last minute checks for tonight. "I found these cards in the old library here," she said, holding out a deck and book. "they're called tarot cards, and they're said to give hints of the future. I've been studying them since you've been gone, thinking it could be useful."

"Huh, neat, a fortune telling gimmick." Tony hummed in interest, "Yeah, some people are into that. I'm sure it's gonna be a hit."

Anna beamed, delighted at the human's approval, "So~" she drawled, "would you like to see where  _our_ future is going?"

"Our...?" Tony blinked, somehow taken aback as Anna was suddenly an inch closer. He felt odd, feeling a little fuzzy. For a moment, he was drawn to the girl, but he could sense, in the back of his mind, he was wondering why. Tony did think she was quite beautiful, but he didn't quite think he was drawn to her for that. "I..." He started, before trailing off as he was swooped off his feet. "Whoa!"

" _Rudolph!_ " Anna cried out indignantly.

The vampire laughed as he flew out from the nearest window, and landed them to the ground. "Mother said everything is just about ready, we can do whatever before it starts, in another two hours."

"Oh, all right then..." Tony looked around, before grinning. "Awesome! Some stalls are already set up, come on. Let's hit some up."

Rudolph frowned, but he chalked it up to another one of Tony's human expressions. "And you really think it's okay if they see me?" He asked.

"Sure, it's Halloween. And Vampire costumes are one of the most common ones, just, uh..." Tony started, staring at Rudolph's feet. "Try to keep your feet on the ground. Even with costumes, humans can't fly. That would be a dead give away."

Rudolph scrunched up his nose, almost in disgust. "Why would anyone give away corpses? They are quite rotten, you know."

"Oh, no, that just means it would be obvious. It's like, announcing that you are a vampire." Tony explained, before taking Rudolph's hand. "Now come on, two hours are wasting."

For the most parts, Tony showed Rudolph some Halloween treat favorites, like Candy corn and Candy apple. Rudolph couldn't really consume them, just having one lick of the orange-white striped candy made him nauseous, but Tony's delight partaking them made up for it. Rudolph did thoroughly enjoy the festival game booths; ring toss, darting water balloons, and the like. Maybe it had something to do with his heightened vampire senses, but he won a prize in every single one, mostly having Tony choose them.

Though, he did keep a maneless stuffed lion. "It looks like you, so I shall name it ' _Tony_ '!"

"What?" Tony balked, unsure if he should feel touched, or laugh out loud. "that's Simba, you dumbass."

Rudolph snorted, about to comment that his bottom, while not having a brain of its own, does not make it dumb, when Tony was suddenly jostled by a random festival attender.

"Hey!" Tony yelped, being knocked into Rudolph, nearly dropping the won prizes. "Rude! Watch─" He scowled, turning back to protest when the outrage was replaced by shock.

The offender, and his companion, turned back as well. "You watch─ Wohoho, lookie here, Nigel."

"Well, if it isn't  _Tiny_ Thompson. Seems like this trip back home won't be so boring after all, huh Flint?"

Tony grumbled, but decided it was better not to comment on that. Ever since Flint and Nigel early present as Alphas, they've been unbearable and, contrary to what he had Rudolph believed, nearly impossible to avoid. He could only hope, by the time he'd present, he would be a beta, like his parents. Certainly, an alpha would be preferable to fend them off, but as his parents were both betas, it seemed unlikely. At least as a beta, it would make him less susceptible to giving in to submission.

"Tony," Rudolph started, breaking the blond out of his reverie, "you know these fellows?" he asked, side-eyeing the two with disdain.

Flint and Nigel starts, as if just realizing the vampire's present. They sneer, "Who the hell is this," Nigel groused, "another vampire-loving freak?"

Flint snickered, "Check it, bro, he's even going all out with the whole costume."

"C'mon, Rudy." Tony huffed, not bothering to deign the boys with a response. "let's get going," he takes his friend's hand, and start to direct him away. "the attraction should start in any—"

Nigel reached forward, and drags Tony back to face them, "Hold on, you little shit, we ain't done talkin'" He scowled. Despite not having present yet, Tony could already feel the pressure of forced dominance on him. "now that we're off school grounds, no one's gonna tell us what we can't—"

"Leave him alone," Rudolph growled, placing a hand on the offending human's shoulder, he jolted, suddenly having images flash through his mind, and he suddenly sees Tony, body bare as the two fellows stood before him, bruises littered all over his torso, running down his back, lower, lower...

...Finally, he was broken out his reverie, "—the hell you think you are?" Nigel groused, "you his boyfriend or something? Tiny," he snorts, "you could do better." 

"What is that even supposed to mean?" Tony huffed, pulling away from him forcefully. "Look, just leave me alone already—" He paused, widening his eyes as Rudolph stepped in front of him and grabbed the front of Nigel's shirt, easily throwing him off his shoulder.

Flint balked, snarling at him in response. "Hey!" He snapped, "that's my brother, you damn─!"

" _You did that_ ," Rudolph fixed him with a glare, effectively silencing him. " _not me, right_?"

Flint blinked, before his glare turned harsher as he went to attack his own brother. Tony gawked, staring between the two and Rudolph. He stepped forward to, ironically, appease the two, when Rudolph stopped him and the brothers tumbled down a hill, clashing with some grazing cows, hitting them as the wrestled with each other.

"Rudolph, what the hell─!" Tony started, before his eyes widened in horror as the cattle, aggravated by the misinterpreted assault on their part, started to move on the boys themselves. "Ah, crap!"

At that moment, Anna flew by Tony's side, "What's going on?" she asked, frowning as she saw the situation. "What are those silly mortals doing? They're upsetting the cows." 

"It's a long story, just... Ack, Anna, do me a favor?" Tony looked at her pleadingly, "can you do something about that situation? I need—" He paused, glaring at Rudolph once. "—I need to talk with Rudolph for now."

Anna blinked, somehow feeling an oppressive air towards the two. She gives Tony a simple nod, before rushing over to the chaos ensuing and trying to be covert about dealing with the problem. Tony let Anna take care of the two McAshtons in favor of dragging his friend away and tell him off.

"Rudolph, what the hell!" The blond grumbled, "I thought you said spells were a girl thing!"

"Technically," Rudolph shrugged noncommittally, "I meant that  _flirting_ , manipulation spell was a girl thing. Vampires, in general, are rather manipulative, if they want..."

Tony gawked, staring at his friend incredulously. "Well, don't do that!" he frowned, looking over to see that Anna somehow manages to alleviate the situation, perhaps using her spell once more to soothe the cows. He sighed in relief before turning back to Rudolph, "Seriously, you could've killed them."

The vampire frowned, "Would that have been so bad?" he asked. "They tormented you, didn't they?"

"Yeah, sure. I don't really like those jerks at all, but you can't just kill them." Tony gestured with his arms vaguely, "Not only is it just plain wrong, and mean bad business for those old folks taking you guys in if anyone had been watching, but think about their families and how they would feel."

Rudolph rolled his eyes, "Oh, please, Rookery didn't hesitate."

"Really? You're gonna take a leaf off his book?" Tony huffed, scrunching up his nose. "Rudolph, you're better than that; be the bigger man."

Rudolph made a look, crossing his arms. "I'm not a man, I'm a vampire doing you a favor." he said pointedly, "why can't you just show your gratitude?"

"Because I'm not about to have a murderer for a best friend." Tony groused, feeling more frustrated with his friend more and more, "but if mortal life is that easy for you to disregard, I don't know if I want to be your friend anymore." He huffed, turning and walking away.

Rudolph balked, suddenly filling panic rise to his chest, "Tony! You can't truly mean that!" He begged, but the mortal kept moving. "Tony, wait! Don't just walk away from me!" He forgets himself, floating towards the human and grabbing his arm. "I just wanted to help, I─!"

"Ow!" Tony gasped, trying to wriggle free. "Stop it, Rudolph! You're hurting me!"

Rudolph widened his eyes, looking down to his hand gripping Tony's, and he forgot his vampire strength, as well. Already, light bruises started forming. He lets go. "I, I didn't mean... I just..."

"Rud," Tony frowned, shying away from him a bit. "I think... I think I just, I need some time, okay?" He told him sternly, before turning away once more and walking away.

This time, Rudolph didn't follow him, in favor of staring at his hands in horror.

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So far, even despite the little grand opening incident,  _The Bed and Breakfast_ 's attraction was gaining popularity and plenty of tourists flocked the hotel as soon as the opened the morning of the festival. A batch of sixty tourists per tour that lasted for an hour, with a thirty minute break after each one so the ' _actors_ ' could rest. Gregory immediately noticed that an arrangement was changed; Tony and Rudolph's blood-sucking bit. In fact, Rudolph simply acted out as a tour guide for the entire thing, while Tony accepted the tickets at the entrance.

Then, he hears from Anna about what happened, and she said even her spell won't work on Tony as he was too upset to be bothered by anything else. Gregory had his suspicions, recalling his father's teachings about a vampire's bondmate. That said, there seems to be more to the connection between his brother and Tony that it is at its current stand, at least, there could be. But there's a factor hindering it for the mean time, and with the current spat, it could make or break what they already have.

He didn't really think much of the human, except that he was tolerable for a human, but he did care for his brother to a certain extent

 "So, he's no longer your friend," Gregory said simply, as if that finalizes the discussion, "does that mean I can drink off him now?"

Rudolph jolted, widening his eyes. "What!" he growled, outraged. "Why would you still consider that? I thought you were ' _cool_ ' with Tony, what─"

"I consider him as such so long as he does nothing to jeopardize our existence, or hurt you in any way─ As far as I can tell, though, you can take the credit for this mishap."

Rudolph groused, but couldn't really argue that point. "How do you figure?"

 "Anna told me what happened," Gregory said, "now, it's been a long time since I've considered my past self as a human, so I don't really feel any inclination towards them. But I know your friend's important to you and as he is still, obviously, a human, you should do well to be a bit more considerate of his values."

The little vampire huffed, almost indignant. "They hurt him, brother. And they wanted to... I, I don't know how, but I was able to see it. How they planned on—" he growled, shaking his head.

"I understand that... Well, not really." Gregory frowned, but shrugged it off for the mean time. "But you should find a way to take care of those blokes in a more... proper way, in the sense that it wouldn't jeopardize our new, quite nice and pleasant, home. And ultimately, not jeopardize your friendship with Tony."

Rudolph scowled, throwing himself back before letting himself float to the air. "Damn it all," he complained, "I hate it when you're right."

"I'm always right," Gregory smirked, rolling his eyes.

Rudolph wagged his finger in protest, "Except that one time when you almost got yourself burned alive by Rookery's light."

"Go find your friend, Rudolph," Gregory grunted, flying off himself. "or I'm gonna have second thoughts not sucking his blood after all."


End file.
